Volt
by slowlysinking13
Summary: Jenna McLong is an optimist, lead singer of the garage band Blacklisted, and 17 years old respectively. Her band is performing at the Volt festival, and when she and her best friend Tori bump into two members of a band, things get complicated. Competition is formed and Jenna doesn't know how things will show down. feat. All Time Low
1. You're Kidding! I'm In A Ba-

"I really don't care, I just want to get this year over with," I say, rolling my eyes. "If we compete and win this festival, I won't need school anyways," I finish, throwing a pair of jeans into the already overflowing cart.

"Um, I wouldn't be throwing away the college option so easily, Jenna," my best friend, Victoria says, grabbing a pair of Birkenstocks.

"Tori," I say, irritated, "even if I wasn't competing in the festival, I wouldn't be considering college. Maybe Juilliard, but definitely not college."

She rolls her eyes and steers the cart in the direction of checkout, retorting, "Jenna, Juilliard is a college."

"Juilliard for me would be considered a DisneyWorld. Not a college," I state, dumping an armful of back-to-school jeans onto the checkout counter.

I pay my share of the denim mess and grab bags, leading Tori towards the store next door.

"Y'know, I would be really far away if you went to Juilliard," Tori says to me, with a pout on her face.

"I know, Tor. And I'm really feeling pulled. But it's what kinda determines my life, you know?" I ask, ruffling through a couple backpacks and making my way straight to the back of Hot Topic, where band merchandise is kept.

I grab a couple of sleeveless shirts and hold them up. "Fall Out Boy, Paramore, Hey Monday or Me You At Six?" I ask.

Tori bites on the inside of her cheek, thinking. "Definitely the Fall Out Boy and Hey Monday," she says, nodding. I throw them in with her ripped stockings, and stride to the counter. There isn't a cashier.

"Hello?" Tori calls, looking back over her shoulder at the changing stall.

"Coming!" a male voice shouts above the GreenDay song blasting in the overhead speaker.

"Poor guy he must be on duty all by himself," Tori comments.

After a couple of moments, the "poor guy" steps out of the changing stall and walks behind the checkout desk. His golden brown hair is swept down across his forehead, and his brown eyes glow as he turns to you and grabs your shirts. "Hey, how's it going?" he asks easily.

"Great," I return, giving him a small smile.

"Hey! That's a custom pick!" he lets out excitedly. I pull my hand away from the Hey Monday sleeveless and instinctively rub my left thumb across the pick attached to a strap of leather on my right wrist.

"Yeah," I mumble, turning red. He probably couldn't see it in the dim lighting, thank goodness.

"I want one of these so bad," he says, looking down at it, openly grabbing my wrist and pulling it up for inspection. "Blacklisted? Who're they? I've never heard of 'em," he asks.

"Um, it's my band. We call ourselves Blacklisted," I say, blushing harder. It was never this awkward explaining Blacklisted to anyone else. What was it with this kid?

"Dude, that's insane! I have a band, too!" the cashier grins excitedly, completely forgetting about the purchases on the counter. "Have you ever heard of All Time Low?"

Greek could've been more familiar. Catch my drift?

"Uh, no," I say in a flat tone.

"Oh. Well, you will," he smiles to himself as he picks up my shirts and puts them in a bag. "That'll be $47.76," he says, smiling at me once more, and moving on to Tori. He finished her purchase and handed her the bag.

"I'm Alex, by the way," he calls to me as we head out of the store. "Jenna," I call back, waving.

"Well, he was really friendly," Tori says to me as we head towards the center of the mall, checking out Zumies and a couple of other skateboard shops.

"Let's go to H&M," Tori begs me. "Fine, but after that, the food court. I'm starving," you say, clutching your torso and groaning. "I think my stomach might commit suicide to escape from my evil plots of starvation against it."

"Ew, gross," Tori grimaces as we enter the huge department store. "Don't worry, I just have to find a baseball cap," she assures me, and I nod. She actually does a fast job, finding one within ten minutes.

"Food. Oh my gosh, food," I say, eyeing the nearest Italian restaurant. Tori and I split, she has to go to Subway for a vegetarian lunch.

I make my way in line and pull out my wallet, getting ready to pay the cashier for my Marinara Meatball Special. "Hey, I like your bracelet. Isn't that a custom-made pick?" the cashier asks me. I look up, and gape.

He stares back at me, waiting for a reply. "Uh...um yes," I clear my throat. "Yes it is."

The 17 year old-looking guy had dark brown hair, just like the Hot Topic dude. What was his name? Aaron? Austin? I'm terrible with names.

Except for his brown hair had a flash of bright blonde in it. It fell across his forehead, just like the other guys'.

"Who's Blacklisted?" he asks. I glance at his name tag. Jack.

"Uh...my band," I say dazedly, looking into his eyes. They were identical to the Hot Topic cashier's.

This was crazy. Two people noticing my pick within the same hour.

As soon as my words leave my mouth, his face lights up and he says, "You're kidding! I'm in a ba-," the customer behind me grunted and coughed and Jack turned red and handed me my food.

"Please stay right here, I'm on my lunch break in five," he tells me, and I nod. Why was I agreeing to this?

After three more customers, a girl with thick black and blue hair took the place of Jack at the register and he smiles at me. "Anyways, I'm in a band too. Have you ever-,"

Suddenly, Jack cuts himself off and grins at someone coming our way. I squint and realize it's the Hot Topic guy.

This is getting weirder and weirder.

Once he reaches us, he and Jack do that bro-hug thingy that guys do, and he looks at me and then back at Jack. "So you've met Jenna," he says. "You know Alex?" Jack turns to look at me.

Alex! I knew it started with an A.

I nod. "He works at Hot Topic. He noticed my pick, just like you did."

"What can I say, we're best friends. And great minds think alike," Jack laughs. I grin. "Hey, Jack, you should meet my best friend, Tori." I say, scanning the food court for her.

"Wanna have lunch with us?" Jack asks, grinning.

"Sure, let me go get her. Meet us after you've gotten food."

They nodded and turned, in search of a good place. I spot Tori at a table in he center of the court, and mazed through tables to get to her.

"Guess what? We're having lunch with our favorite cashiers," I joke. She crinkles her forehead and replies, "I thought Alex was our only cashier? Who'd you pick up at the Italian place?"

"His best friend," I respond, half seriously half jokingly.

Tori's eyes widen as Alex and Jack both return to your table and sit down with their pizza.

"Hey!" Jack greets Tori, smiling. "Hi," she says, looking at him then looking down quickly to her vegetarian sub.

After getting settled, Jack looks up at me and says, "so me and Alex are definitely interested in your band, tell us all."

"Well, we're sort of your...punk rock, I guess you could say. We write our own songs. I'm the lead singer, and Tori's lead guitar. We have our friends Grayson and Marissa for drums and bass. That's about it."

"What's up with All Time Low?" Tori asks, looking up at Jack. He smiles at her. "Alex is lead vocals and I'm lead guitar. Rian and Zack are drums and bass. Oh, and we have the same idea when it comes to punk rock. Have you ever heard of the Volt Festival?"

I freeze. I feel Tori tense up beside me, and she squeezes my hand. The Volt Festival is the one we're performing at in two months.

"You're kidding we're-"

The sound of my phone ringing interrupts me and I reach into my pocket, pulling my phone out.

I can see Alex look at Jack, and I tell them, "Sorry, it's my mom," and Jack nods his understanding.

"Hello?"

They all watch me as my mom tells me to get home soon, because we're having dinner with her boyfriend, Erik.

"Sorry, guys, I have to go," I say, turning back to them. I honestly really am super bummed. They were kinda cool, and not to mention the fact that they were in a band...

"That means I have to go too, Jenna's my ride," Tori says, looking sadly at Jack. His face pulls into a temporary frown.

"Well, I hope we see you around, bye Tori. Bye Jenna," and Tori and I get up to leave. We make it halfway out of the mall before we hear our names being called.

We turn around, and Jack and Alex are running toward us, holding out their hands in an attempt to stop us. I come to a halt with Tori and Alex comes forward and smiles while breathing heavily.

"I hope this isn't too forward, but can I have your number?"

Tori looks uncomfortable, but I don't. Oddly enough. Usually I'm the awkward one. And the wary one, but I had this weird feeling about Alex.

"Yeah. Sure, here, swap phones," and I enter my number into his phone.

"Bye, Jenna," he says, waving. "Bye, Alex."

"Jenna, that kid could be a rapist." Tori says to me, giving me a glare as soon as we stepped into the parking lot.

"Oh my gosh, Tori, would you lay off? It's not like I gave him my social security number, dear lord."

"Come on, we better get to your house. Is Erik taking you out?"

"Yeah, I think so. He's supposed to take me shopping on Tuesday for that back to school bash thing this weekend, too."

"Cool, can I tag along?" Tori wiggles her eyebrows at me. I laugh. "Sure, Erik loves you," I say, smiling.

I dropped her off at her house, and drove to my own. Walking through the door, I came in to my mom and Erik smiling happily.

"Come on, honey. Get dressed for a nice dinner," my mom says excitedly.

I nod and smile back, not aware of the excited look Erik had on his face or the sparkly diamond ring on my mom's finger.


	2. Stuck With Loving You

"Married?!"

"Yes!" I squeal happily, "I'm gonna have a dad again!"

"Oh my goodness, this is great, Jenna! I'm so happy for you!" Tori smiles on the other end of the line.

"Well, hey, I have to get ready for school, I'll come pick you up in...an hour and a half?"

"Sounds good. Kisses," Tori says.

"Muah," I respond, ending our conversation.

I look around at my closet, grabbing a pair of my black distressed jeans and the brand spanking new Hey Monday shirt, shrugging them on. Straightening my hair, I put on minimal makeup and throw a flannel over everything.

Grabbing a pair of Converse and a pop tart, I swing my backpack expertly over my shoulder and head out the door, saying goodbye to my mom.

After picking up Tori, I've finished my breakfast and still haven't slipped on my shoes. I do it once we get to the school.

Walking straight through the double front door entrance, Tori and I smile at several people, and wait by a bank of lockers for Marissa and Grayson.

"Hey losers," I hear Grayson chant behind us.

"Hi," Tori responds, stepping away from me to give Grayson a hug.

"Marissa's being paranoid and staying in her classroom, don't wait up for her," she explains to us. I nod and say bye, heading to my first period.

I try to blend in with the crowd, holding my notebook loosely with a carefree look.

A bunch of these kids look like they have no lives outside of being sleazes, and most of the jocks looked too self-entertained with ruining half the population's ego.

Without warning, someone collided with my arm and I jerked up to see who had made me fling my notebook three feet ahead of me.

"Oh fu- Jenna! What are you doing here!?"

I look up into dark brown eyes and gasp. "Jack!"

I give him a hug and smile widely. "I didn't know you went here," Jack says to me, surprised.

"Actually, I just moved into this area. I've never been to this school before. I'm a little nervous, to be honest."

"Which class do you have first?"

"Physics, with some teacher who's name I can't pronounce," I respond, laughing.

"You're in luck! Alex has that class," Jack says, and something inside me tightens.

"Oh, really?" I say controlled.

"Yep," Jack says, popping the 'p'.

He walks me to the door, and opens it. I explain to the teacher I'm new, keeping my face away from the class.

"You're name?"

"Jenna McLong," I respond.

"JENNA!" someone half screeches. I jump and look up to see none other than Alex running toward me, giving me a huge hug. I let go and smile at him, facing the class. There I see at least five other females glaring at me.

Alex must be a popular target here at Beacon Hill High.

"Oh my gosh, I can't believe you go here! Wait until Jack hears this," Alex shakes his head.

"Oh, I already collided with Jack in the hallway, he knows," I laugh as Alex pulls me to the middle of the classroom, plopping me in the desk next to his.

"This class is going to be the reason I fail at life," I mutter, and Alex laughs at me.

"Don't worry, the teacher doesn't even look at your answers. As long as there's something written down, it's an A," he says, making me smile gratefully.

"Nice to know."

After physics with Alex, I had a couple of useless classes with Grayson and Tori. I sat with them at lunch, and then two more classes, both with Marissa. The end of the day was art. This was going to be a long year.

Slipping into a seat at a long, wide table, I sit and pull out my phone, checking Twitter.

"So, whaddya say? Wanna love me? Or Raymond, like everyone else?"

What?

I look up into the face of a grinning Jack, who looks really really excited to see me.

I laugh, and reply teasingly, "being like everyone else is too basic, I guess I'm stuck with loving you," he fist pumps and I add, "but for future reference, you're gonna need some better pick up lines," and he grins.

"Alright class, everyone shut up. Take out a piece of paper and describe to me the sorry extent of your artistic abilities. Due at the bell." The teacher drawls, sitting back down at his desk and pulling out his own phone.

"Well, this class is gonna be fun," I say, pulling out a piece of note book paper. I quickly scrawl, "exactly as you described it-sorry." and wrote my name, then placed it in a tray.

"Looks like you're the type of senior who rolls with the whole 'I don't care anymore,' attitude, huh?" Jack asks me, and I nod. "You're a good guesser," I say sarcastically and he laughs.


	3. It's On Barakat!

***about four months later***

I step out of the changing stall, and my mom beams. "That's the one! I love that color on you!" she gushes, pulling the skirt of the pale blue dress out to admire it.

I roll my eyes and smile.

"Does this mean I can go to Hot Topic now?"

"Yes, dear, I know how much you love that store," my mom laughs, still beaming at the dress.

Tori pipes up, "Oh, Ms. McLong, that's not why Jenna wants to go to-," and I swiftly cut her off with an elbow to the ribs.

My mom just nods happily, ignoring Tori as she approaches the wedding planner.

I quickly shrug out of the dress and back into my tight jeans, pulling a Harley Davidson sleeveless over my torso and jumping on one foot out of David's Bridal.

"Here, wait to get on the escalator. You need your shoe," Tori says to me, handing me my other Birkenstock. I slip it on and run up the escalator, sprinting down the corridor and sliding to a stop in front of the place Alex works.

"Jenna!" Alex exclaims, grinning like an idiot. I smile and rush to give him a hug over the counter.

"You're supposed to get off early today, right?" I ask, looking at him for confirmation. He nods.

"Yep. Give me ten more minutes."

I nod, pulling Tori to the back of the store, fawning over the We The Kings sleeveless that I wanted.

"Come on, we both know you need a job. Desperately," Tori rolls her eyes at me.

"Hey, my birthday is coming up," I retort, wiggling my eyebrows. "Yeah, right," she snorts, "look at me. I'm almost as broke as you."

I roll my eyes at her, and make it back to the front of the store. Alex is switching off duty with a girl who's face looks like a coloring book.

"Come on, Jenna, let's go kidnap Jack. We got tickets to a gig at the hotel downtown and its some band called Evening Masquerade."

"I didn't get dressed for a gig!" I squeal, socking Alex in the arm for not warning me.

He laughs, "Calm down, you look...well, if we're being honest, you look really great," Alex chuckles and I turn pink. Tori giggles and I give her a glare. Alex doesn't notice.

I don't know exactly where Alex and my's relationship is right this moment. We're definitely friends, but I like him a lot more than just a friend. Alex is sweet, kind, funny, cute, and extremely musical. Everything I'd look for in a guy.

The only thing is, I've kinda made a promise to myself to not let anything come between me and my own music. At the rate my grades are going, this Volt concert is my only chance of ever having a real career.

Alex takes me and Tori to the food court, where we pick up Jack. He smells like spaghetti and meatballs. We head out to the car, and Jack slings his arm around my shoulders, leaning on me all the way through the parking garage. The smell of marinara sauce fills my nose, and I giggle.

"You know, Jenna, I think you know the lead singer to this gig."

"Really?" I ask. Jack's smirking, and I'm not sure how to take it.

"Yup," he responds, popping the 'p'. "And we got tickets because they're going against us at Volt this year."

I look nervously at Tori. She bites her lip, and cocks her head.

"Guys..." I say, trying to sound collected. It isn't working. Alex looks back at me with a sweet smile and I'm melting.

My stomach starts to churn. Since that day at the mall, we haven't told Jack or Alex about our spot in the Volt festival. They don't know.

"Um, well. We have something important to tell you," I say, looking into Alex's eyes.

"Did you finally buy one of those bubble-gum flavored picks like I told you to?" Jack asks seriously, not helping matters.

"No, Jack, it's kind of bad news," Tori answers for me, rolling her eyes.

Alex looks at me, prodding for me to spit it out.

"We'recompetingatVolttoo," I rush, looking down at my toes.

It's dead silent, and I'm ready to curl up in a ball and die. But then Alex starts to laugh. He laughs.

I look up, and Jack's giggling, too.

"What? What's so funny?" Tori demands, hands on her hips.

"T-that's the bad news? Did you think we'd be mad or something?" Jack asks, giggling.

I start to burn, my face is getting red. I cross my arms in a huff.

Alex opens his arms and steps around me to give me a hug.

"I'm sorry, Jenna. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. We just want you to know that it's not a big deal," he says soothingly, and I untense in his arms.

"Just hope you make it in to top five like us," Jack says a little too smugly. Tori raises an eyebrow. "Oh, okay. It's on, Barakat!"

Jack rolls his eyes. "Sure, Blassim. Whatever you say."

We all laugh and swing into the car, driving directly to one of the big hotels downtown.

Making our way into the ballroom, we squeeze through the crowd of already sweaty bodies. We talk over the loud noise, until the band comes onstage.

That's when I feel my heart do a sickening thud. The lead singer, a black haired blue eyed seventeen year old male, comes up to the middle mic.

"Noah Crastick?" Tori whispers, and I shrug. I look at Jack, who smirks at me. How did he know about me and Noah?

"I'll admit I talked to Noah a little bit before we bought these tickets. He told me...about you."

I bristle at Jack's words. He was being extremely elusive, and I was getting upset. I didn't want anyone to know about Noah and I, we were done; history.

Noah's voice starts to filter through the room, and I feel like shuddering. As much as I don't want it to, my mind wanders back to when Noah's voice would filter through my own house, making me smile.

"So you like it?" Alex asks me, and I wipe the smile off my lips. "I-it's alright, I guess," I answer haltingly. He gives me a weird look, and looks back onstage.

The band starts a new song, and Noah scans the crowd.

His eyes lock directly with mine and I cringe. He smiles smugly, and I abruptly turn around and start making my way through the mass of people. I can hear Alex and Tori calling my name, but I ignore them. Right now, I'm mad at Noah, I'm mad at Jack, and I'm in desperate need of fresh air.

After a few minutes of breathing in the lobby, Alex and Tori rush in, and make their way to me. I hold up my hands, telling them to stay back and give me space.

Alex offers to take me home and I nod, while Tori stays behind with Jack to finish the show.

I'm completely silent in the car, and Alex tries to be helpful. But I'm not going to talk about it. I'm over it, and I just need room and time to figure out what Jack had meant by "he told me...about you."

Alex walks me up to my door, and pulls me into a hug. "I'm sorry about the band. I though you'd like it. I'm sorry Jack was being a-,"

I cut him off before he says something about Jack that he'll regret. "It's fine, Gaskarth. I'll be alright. I just...for future reference, let's stay away from Noah Crastick, okay?"

"But- I thought-okay," he nods and looks down at my mouth. I quickly open the front door and slip inside, smiling goodbye before closing it.


	4. When In Zack Merrick's Garage

"That doesn't sound right," Grayson mumbles from her drum kit at the back of Zack Merrick's garage. I nod, and look over at Marissa.

"Try a D instead," I advise her and she plays the lead into the song we're practicing.

"That sounded much better," Jack nods at Marissa.

Right now, we're hanging out with All Time Low, and they wanted to hear us practice. Zack opened up his garage, and it's pretty awesome, compared to mine.

Rian Dawson, the drummer of the guy's band, walks into the garage with three pizzas on his arm, and several Cokes nestled into the crook of his other arm.

"Food!" I mutter, looking back to my guitar and fiddling with the neck.

"Practice first," Tori reprimands me. I sigh and Grayson counts us off into the first verse of Jumper. I take a deep breath and begin to sing.

 _I wish you would step back from that ledge my friend_

 _You could cut ties with all the lies that you've been living in_

 _And if you do not want to see me again I would understand_

I look back over at Zack and Alex devouring the first box of pizza, and begin to playfully whine into the microphone. Alex looks up at my inhuman noise and I grin. His chin is covered in tomato sauce and a string of cheese trails from his mouth back down the plate he's holding in his lap.

Marissa's bass cuts out and Tori says into her mic, "okay, I give up, break!"

I carefully place my guitar into its rack, and hop over and sit on Jack's lap, stealing a piece of untouched cheese pizza from his paper plate.

"Hey!" he lets out, and I stick my tongue out at him.

"Guys," he lets out in surprise, looking closer at my mouth, "did ya'll know that Jenna's tongue is pierced?"

I consciously slide my tongue up against the roof of my mouth, scraping off any pizza. Zack and Rian move closer, and I stick out my tongue to reveal the silver stud set in the middle of my tongue.

Alex raises his eyebrows, and Zack smiles.

"What?" I say to Alex, smirking.

"That's hot," he comments, taking another bite of pizza. I roll my eyes and ask Rian what other songs they're performing at Volt.

"We're thinking of Welcome to the Black Parade and All The Small Things," he informs me, "and speaking of which, someone needs to work on memorizing the lyrics," he adds, glaring at Alex.

"What about you?" he asks me, and I swallow my pizza and tell him about Paramore's Misery Business and Take Me Down by Tonight Alive.

Jack moves my hips off of his lap and bounces up to Tori's guitar, motioning for the guys to join him for a set.

They do a performance of they're original, Jasey Rae, before we have to pack up and get ready for school tomorrow. Something about that song makes me wonder who the heck screwed up Alex's heart so much to make him write it. I'm deep in thought about it when he cuts into my thoughts.

"Hey, Jenna, am I picking you up tomorrow?" Alex asks me as I'm helping Grayson and Rian load her drum kit into Marissa's truck.

"Yes, please. My car is still in the shop," I answer, smiling gratefully at Alex.

He grins and asks if anyone else needs a ride. Tori says yes, but Jack quickly intervenes and offers to pick her up, which earns knowing glances between Alex and I.

Grayson and I hop into the back of Marissa's truck, ready for her to speed off. Alex hops in at the last minute, too.

"What are you-" I start, and Alex holds up his hand. "You're mom invited me over for a movie."

I groan and cover my face with my hands. "Hey, it's okay. I wanna come," Alex chuckles. I nod, and throw a thumbs up to Marissa, and she revs up the engine.

We're gone in a flurry of waves to the rest of All Time Low and Tori.

I smile at Alex in the bed of the truck; he's conversing with Grayson about her drum kit and the layout of her garage. He catches my eye and flashes a smile, his brown eyes taking on a shine, then goes on talking to Grayson.

I haven't figured out what it is about Alex. He keeps on dropping these hints, and I can't decipher them because he continues to pull away when I try to dig deeper.

The kid's wearing me out.

Marissa drops off Grayson first, which requires all four of us to unload her drum kit. After that, we squish into the truck with Marissa. "Where do you live, Alex?"

I look pointedly at Marissa and explain that Alex is coming home with me. She gives me a look with raised eyebrows, her taffy colored eyes bright with surprise. I give her a look that tells her to not push it.

She nods and calmly drops us off. Not bothering to say bye, she speeds off, and I can see her smirk in her rear view mirror.


End file.
